Agencies line up for pounds 1m London referendum job

The government is to launch a pounds 1m campaign encouraging

Londoners to vote in next year’s referendum on the controversial issue

of whether the capital should have an elected mayor and assembly.

Four advertising agencies have already been shortlisted for the

through-the-line campaign, which will break ahead of the poll, to be

held on May 7 next year.

The agencies are: Ogilvy & Mather, Bates Dorland, Mellors Reay &

Partners, and WWAV Rapp Collins.

A COI spokeswoman said the aim of the campaign was to inform the public

about the referendum for a Greater London Authority and encourage them

to take part in the poll.

The issue of whether London should have either an assembly, a mayor or

both has already been the subject of much controversy, as has the list

of potential candidates being suggested for the post of mayor.

In a recent Evening Standard and LWT poll, Richard Branson stood out as

having the best chance of being the first directly elected mayor of

London.

Other candidates are Labour MP Ken Livingstone, the former leader of the

Greater London Council, and novelist and Conservative politician Lord

Archer.

This article was first published on Marketing